Warsaw – Ibis Warsaw Centrum
I have quite a few stays in Warsaw planed for the next few weeks, this is the first of them in a hotel located around a 20-minute walk from the old town of the city. The welcome was friendly and engaging, with the staff member speaking perfect English.
The bar area, which didn’t shut until 01:00, with food being served until around 23:00.
To keep things simple, which I like, the hotel has listed the drinks which are included with the voucher for members of the loyalty scheme. The complimentary beer options were though extremely limited, although I suspect that this will start to gradually change over the next few years. There is a wider selection of beers on the regular drinks menu, but it’s still relatively limited.
I went for the Żywiec, which took a little longer than expected as the barrel needed changing, but it tasted like it was meant to.
The room, which was clean and comfortable with everything working as it should. It was on the sixth floor, so my usual plan to use the stairs was partly abandoned.
The welcome amenity, fruit and breadsticks.
The breakfast area.
The salad items, although it’s the pickles which I particularly like.
The breakfast area didn’t feel busy, even at what was probably one of their busier times of the morning, so all very relaxed. There were hot dog sausages, cold meats, cold cheeses, breads, cereals and machines serving coffees and juices.
The only minor flaw I found with the hotel was they hadn’t cleaned the room by around 17:00 when I got back, although there was some clattering about outside a few minutes later, so I don’t think they’d forgotten and it was just being down later on. At this juncture, I put the privacy sign on the door so as to avoid traipsing downstairs whilst they cleaned the room (it’s very awkward trying to sit in a room being cleaned, as it’s near impossible not to be in the way). Although, if I had known this in advance, I’d have left the privacy sign up throughout the day and claimed the 100 Accor points which are available for guests who don’t want the room cleaned.
I thought I’d have a little look on TripAdvisor for some of the more intriguing reviews. This one amused me:
“Although we believed this was rated as 4* it was in fact no better than a hostel. The clue was a table football machine in the lobby. The room was clean but small and very basic. I towel per guest. No soap. Minute sized single pillows.
Breakfast was adequate but overpriced. The staff in the main were helpful. It is situated on a semi main road by the side of tram tracks and therefore can be noisy. There are no facilities close other than a small supermarket next door and a bar within walking distance.. For what is offered this is too expensive. The clincher was the free bottled water but without a bottle opener.”
Must have been galling for the staff to read this, although they replied professionally. Especially since Ibis self-declares itself as a two-star hotel and I’m not sure many mid-tier hotels offer soap any more, it’s nearly always liquid shower gel and soap. I’m intrigued about the lack of facilities since the hotel has its own restaurant and bar, perhaps some guests want a football stadium within the hotel. I was amused at the bottled water comment, as I momentarily pondered this, until looking at them and seeing that they were twist tops……
“There was no English Breakfast – it was all salad and ham!! There was no Beans, Mushrooms, Fried Tomatoes, no hash browns or bacon.”
No English breakfast in Poland, whatever next…..
Overall, the hotel staff were all friendly, the room was clean and it was a peaceful and relaxed environment. Reasonably priced and just a short walk to the centre of Warsaw.
